Department for Transport

Diesel Trains: Exhaust Emissions

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has carried out any assessment of the effect of emissions from older diesel locomotives on public health.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diesel Trains: Exhaust Emissions

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential effects on cleanliness of engines of retrofitting cleaner diesel engines into older trains and locomotives.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Living Wage: Young People

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the effect on productivity of excluding under 25 year olds from receiving the National Living Wage.

Andrew Griffiths: Workers under 25 are entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which is designed to ensure younger workers are fairly rewarded, while protecting the employment prospects of those workers. For younger workers, the priority in those years is to secure work and gain experience – something that has always been reflected in the NMW rate structure. Age-related rates protect younger workers who are more vulnerable in the labour market. For example, between January to March 2018, the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 was 12 per cent compared to 3 per cent for those aged 25 and over. All of the NLW and NMW rates are recommended by the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC). The LPC is carrying out a review of the youth rate structure to see if the current structure best supports their remit. They are due to provide their advice to Government in Spring 2019.

Local Energy Contact Group

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the membership is of the Local Energy Contact Group.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will ensure that all agendas, minutes and papers of meetings of the Local Energy Contact Group are published online.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Local Energy Contact Group was established; how many meetings of that group have taken place to date; and what the outcomes have been of those meetings.

Claire Perry: We made a commitment in the Clean Growth Strategy to establish a Local Energy Contact Group. The Group is not a formal public body but rather, it is designed to provide insight for the department on the unique value, impacts and opportunities of policy options on local and community energy schemes.The first meeting will take place shortly. I am pleased to announce that Pete Capener MBE has agreed to be the first chair of the group.As this is an advisory group and not a public body, formal minutes of the meetings will not be published. We will however, make sure that agendas are available in advance so interested parties can raise issues with members of the Group.

Energy

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2018, HCWS 690 on Energy Policy, which organisations were consulted prior to that statement being made.

Claire Perry: The Department worked closely with relevant government departments in developing the Written Ministerial Statement, which advanced the commitments from the Government’s 2017 manifesto to support the development of shale gas extraction. So we are setting out a series of actions, including those committed to in the Government’s 2017 manifesto to support the development of shale gas extractionWe engaged with stakeholders as part of our ongoing stakeholder engagement. The statement announced forthcoming consultations on areas of the policy. We did not consult on the statement in advance.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Contracts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Sir Alan Duncan: As of 23 May 2018 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office employs a total of 71 contractors. The breakdown is :a) Up to one year = 38b) Between 1 – 5 years = 27c) Between 5 – 10 years = 6d) Over 10 years = 0

British Overseas Territories: Biodiversity

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April to Question 136459, on British Overseas Territories: biodiversity, what the outcomes of the discussions on possible replacements for the EU's financing instrument for biodiversity funding were; and whether further Ministerial level discussions have since taken place.

Sir Alan Duncan: Government Departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Her Majesty's Treasury, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department for Exiting the European Union, are actively engaging in discussions concerning a possible replacement for BEST funding. A number of options are being considered, and the Government plans to involve the Overseas Territories in these discussions. Ministers will have the opportunity to conduct further discussions on this topic as matters develop over the coming months.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to help ensure (a) refugees and (b) internally displaced people are included in the peace process in South Sudan.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure refugees and internally displaced people take part in the peace process in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-led peace process, the High Level Revitalisation Forum (HLRF), includes civil society, political and religious groups currently excluded from South Sudan. The British Government has repeatedly underlined the need for a broad range of actors that represent the whole of South Sudanese society to be represented in the HLRF including civil society and faith-based organisations.Refugees and internally displaced people are not represented by a specific group, but permeate across a large number of included groups in the peace process; such as: civil society, political and religious groups. The UK Special Representative continues to engage with a wide range of civil society groups, including those which refugees and internally displaced people are part of, to support their inclusion in the process.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to help ensure (a) churches and (b) faith-based organisations are able to make an effective contribution to the peace process in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-led peace process, the High Level Revitalisation Forum (HLRF), includes civil society, political and religious groups currently excluded from South Sudan. The British Government has repeatedly underlined the need for a broad range of actors that represent the whole of South Sudanese society to be represented in the HLRF including civil society and faith-based organisations. The UK Special Representative continues to engage with a wide range of civil society groups to support their inclusion in the process. Through our diplomatic engagement, we will continue to make this point at the highest levels, both directly to IGAD and to all parties to the conflict.The UK is supporting local peace-building initiatives in South Sudan, including by providing funding to the South Sudanese Council of Churches (SSCC). The SSCC, which comprises the seven main churches, have developed an Action Plan for Peace. This includes reconciliation and mediation efforts, and support for inclusive dialogue within and across communities. This UK funding – via the Conflict Stability and Security Fund - is also enabling the SSCC to lead mediation and reconciliation efforts between national level leaders who have the power to stop the violence. A number of UK Ministers have met with SSCC representatives to hear directly about the role the churches are playing to end the conflict.

Israel: Palestinians

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason the UK abstained during the recent UN Human Rights Council vote on an independent investigation into violence in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: The UK's Permanent representative in Geneva set out our reasoning at length in an explanation of the vote which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/human-rights-council-special-session-28th

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on reports of an attack by the Rapid Support Forces on areas controlled by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North at the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue in Khartoum; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications of that attack for the declaration of unilateral ceasefire by the Government of Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: Reports of fighting between the Government of Sudan and forces belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (Malik Agar faction) emerged after the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue on 24 April. We have discussed the reported clashes with the Sudanese authorities on a number of occasions.We raised our concerns with the Government of Sudan on 9 May. We reiterated the UK's and the international community's expectation that unilateral cessations of hostilities must be observed by both sides. While presenting his credentials to the President of Sudan on 14 May, our Ambassador addressed the issue of conflict and repeated the importance of observing the unilateral ceasefires, so that negotiations may resume in an environment that is conducive to peace. The UK Defence Attaché raised the issue with the Sudanese Armed Forces on the same date.We will continue to monitor developments closely and raise our concerns about the violence and its impact with the Sudanese authorities.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on recent attacks by the Government of Sudan in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: We are aware of reports of fighting in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur between Government of Sudan troops and armed groups. Information is difficult to verify due to Government restrictions on access to the region. We are urging the Government of Sudan to ensure unfettered access for UNAMID, UN agencies and NGOs in order to corroborate reports and make an assessment of the scale and nature of fighting and its impact on civilians.We will continue to monitor developments closely and raise our concerns about the violence and its impact with the Sudanese authorities. The British Ambassador raised our concerns with the President of Sudan during the formal presentation of his credentials on 14 May. Our Ambassador reiterated the importance of the unilateral cessations of hostilities, and urged all sides to abide by their pledges so that negotiations may resume in an environment that is conducive to peace.

Sudan: Detainees

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of detainees who are imprisoned without charge in Darfur.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The Government of Sudan does not release statistics on the number of detainees from each state held in its prisons. We continue to urge the Government of Sudan to guarantee the constitutional and human rights of its citizens, including the right to freedom of expression, to political participation, and to due process in the judicial system.

Sudan: Migrant Camps

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the planned  closure of the Kalma refugee camp in Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: We are not aware of any official plans by the Government of Sudan to close the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Darfur.When UK officials raised recent media reports with him on 9 May, the Governor of South Darfur, Adam El-Faki stated that while the Government of Sudan wanted to find a sustainable solution for Darfur's IDP population, some of whom has been living in camps for over ten years, it had no current plans to close the camp.

Sustainable Development

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution her Department plans to make to the voluntary national review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mark Field: ​I refer the honourable Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for International Development on 29 May 2018 (PQ 146233).

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many contractors her Department employs who have worked for her Department for (a) up to one year, (b) over one and up to five years, (c) over five years and up to ten years and (d) over 10 years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: My Department currently employs 2 contractors; both have worked with the department for over one but less than five years.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ibrutinib

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the absence of a remission timeframe in the recommendation of NICE on the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, for what reason NHS England does not prescribe ibrutinib to patients who have been in remission for more than three years.

Steve Brine: We have been informed by NHS England that, since 25 April 2017, it has routinely commissioned ibrutinib for relapsed / refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia with 17p deletion or TP53 mutation. Prior to this, ibrutinib was funded via the Cancer Drugs Fund.NHS England has advised that the basis of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) assessment of the clinical effectiveness of ibrutinib was a clinical trial (PCYC-1112). The trial’s patient inclusion criteria included a caveat that patients should have failed to respond or had a progression free survival of less than three years (from first dose of treatment with a purine analogue-based therapy and anti-CD20 containing chemo-immunotherapy after at least two cycles).The treatment criteria set by NHS England are derived directly from the full NICE Guidance document, including the evidence and studies upon which the NICE Committee relied in order to make a positive recommendation as to the drug’s clinical and cost effectiveness.

Nutrition: Health Education

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) NHS England's and (b) NICE's dietary advice is under review.

Steve Brine: NHS England provided the guidance ‘Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration (2015-2018)’ to support commissioning of nutrition and hydration needs in acute services and the community. NHS England has no plans to issue any further guidance at this time. Commissioners will be expected to continue to give due regard to the existing guidance, which remains relevant. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a number of guidelines which include recommendations on diet. In 2015 NICE published a “Preventing excess weight gain” guideline which provides dietary advice for children, young people and adults this guidance was checked in 2017 and an update is planned. There are separate NICE guidelines on Maternal and Child Nutrition and an update is planned. The Government’s dietary advice is based on Public Health England’s Eatwell Guide which sets out the Government’s advice on a healthy balanced diet. The Eatwell Guide was updated in 2016 to reflect the recommendations made by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in their 2015 report on Carbohydrates and Health.

Nutrition: Health Education

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has any plans to review the effectiveness of the dietary advice provided by NHS England.

Steve Brine: There are currently no plans to review the effectiveness of the NHS England’s dietary advice which is provided to commissioners via ‘Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration (2015-2018)’. This guidance was developed in conjunction with key partners including the British Dietetic Association and the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Commissioners will be expected to continue to give due regard to the existing guidance, which remains relevant. It is difficult to assess the direct contribution that policy tools, such as the Eatwell Guide, have on eating habits due to the range of influences affecting dietary choices. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Eatwell Guide to directly alter eating habits.

NHS: Dental Services

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the outcome of the pilot programmes on the new NHS dental contract.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the development of a new NHS dental contract.

Steve Brine: The Department is committed to the reform of the current primary care dental contract. Over 70 dental practices are currently testing a possible new contract. This trial started in April 2016 and was preceded by a pilot programme that tested a new clinical approach supporting dentists to focus on preventing disease. In the prototype practices dentists continue to use this clinical approach while also testing a remuneration system designed to support this new way of working.The evaluation report on the first year of prototyping was published on 22 May and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dental-contract-reform-evaluation-report-2016-to-2017Evaluation of the prototype programme is ongoing. The aim is, if further testing shows the approach to be robust, to potentially start rolling out a new system from 2020.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help improve healthcare facilities in Palestine.

Alistair Burt: The UK will provide £1.5m humanitarian funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appeal to help improve the capacity of 11 hospitals in Gaza. The UK is working closely with our international partners to monitor the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and ensure a coordinated and effective response to urgent medical needs. UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority helps to pay the salaries of vetted health public servants in the West Bank. Last year this support provided up to 3,700 immunisations for children and around 185,000 medical consultations annually. In addition, the UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides basic services, including basic healthcare, to over 800,000 Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

Department for Education

Free School Meals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral Answer of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 26 March 2018 on Eligibility Threshold for Free School Meals, when his Department plans to publish the evidential basis for the number of children that will benefit from a taxpayer-funded free school meal by 2022 under universal credit.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have published an explanation of the methodology by which we calculated the figures published in our consultation response on free school meals eligibility, which you can find at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-technical-analysis-note.

Free School Meals

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, further to his oral contribution of 26 March 2018, Official Report, column 505, when his Department plans to publish the evidential basis on which 50,000 more children would be eligible for free school meals.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 16 April 2018



We have published an explanation of the methodology by which we calculated the figures published in our consultation response on free school meals eligibility, which you can find at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-technical-analysis-note.

Intercountry Adoption

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support families in adopting children from overseas.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education provides a service to process intercountry adoption cases in accordance with the legislative framework. We provide prospective adopters with information and guidance on the intercountry process but do not provide legal advice on individual cases and independent legal advice may need to be obtained. Prospective adopters habitually resident in the UK, who wish to undertake an intercountry adoption need to be assessed and approved by a registered adoption agency, which will support them through the process. Information on the intercountry adoption process can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/child-adoption/adopting-a-child-from-overseas.

Apprentices: Degrees

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there are any requirements that must be satisfied in order for bachelor’s degrees pursued at an institution of higher education in (a) England (b) Scotland (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland to be described by that institution as as a degree apprenticeship.

Anne Milton: Skills is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and it is for the devolved administrations to decide how they develop skills policy, including apprenticeships. In England, providers who want to deliver apprenticeship training, including higher education institutions (HEIs) offering degree apprenticeships, must be on the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP): https://roatp.apprenticeships.sfa.bis.gov.uk/download. Over 100 HEIs are on the RoATP. Employers must choose a provider from the register to deliver their apprenticeship training. A degree can be included in an English apprenticeship if the degree meets the mandatory qualifications criteria laid out in the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) guidance. The IfA website lists the degree level apprenticeships that include a degree: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org. The Enterprise Act 2016 protects the term ‘apprenticeship’ to make sure that training providers cannot brand their products as apprenticeships if they do not meet our core quality requirements.

Schools: Discipline

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the powers available to teachers to maintain discipline in classrooms.

Nick Gibb: The Government has clarified and strengthened powers to enable teachers to maintain discipline in the classroom, making clear that teachers can use reasonable force in certain defined circumstances, extending their searching powers and allowing teachers to impose same-day detentions. To help develop effective strategies the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy. In addition, Tom Bennett’s ‘Creating a culture’ report, published in March 2017, provides practical advice for head teachers about creating a school culture that prevents classroom disruption, maintains good discipline and promotes pupils’ education, focus and wellbeing. The Teacher Voice survey found that the majority of teachers (73%) consider pupil behaviour to be good or very good. Latest Ofsted inspection data, published on 22 March 2018, indicates the majority of schools are rated good or outstanding levels on the personal development, behaviour and welfare judgement (83% of primary and 64% of secondary).

Vocational Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 16 to 18-year-olds are studying for BTEC qualifications at each level in (a) schools, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges.

Anne Milton: The number of entries[1] in 2016/17[2], into BTEC qualifications[3] by students during their 16-18 study[4], split into level 2 and 3 qualifications and by institution type is given below: Institution typeLevel 3 BTEC qualifications[5]Level 2 BTEC qualifications[6]All schools[7]67,5053,568Further education colleges[8]156,71929,211of which are sixth form colleges44,7724,026All schools and further education colleges224,22432,779   [1] Some students may have entered more than one BTEC qualification of the same level. All entries by these students from the 2016/17 academic year are included. The total number of individual students entering BTEC qualifications will be lower than the numbers presented here.[2] Figures are based on final data.[3] Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content, ‘discounting’ rules have been applied to ensure performance measures only give credit once for teaching a single course of study. More information can be found in technical guide document: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-accountability-headline-measures-technical-guide).[4] Figures are based on all students who were aged 16-18 in the 2016/17 academic year and entered into an eligible BTEC qualification during that year.[5] Includes tech level and applied general qualifications.[6] Includes tech certificates and other level 2 vocational qualifications.[7] Includes all local authority maintained mainstream schools, sponsored academies, converter academies, free schools, university technical colleges, studio schools and independent schools. Also includes city technology colleges, state-funded special schools, pupil referral units, hospital schools and alternative provision free schools which are not shown separately in the table.[8] Includes: Further education sector colleges; sixth form colleges; other government department funded colleges; and special colleges.

Schools: Uniforms

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the competitive tendering policy model for school uniforms in reducing costs for parents.

Nick Gibb: Decisions about school uniform, including the decision to have one and how it is sourced, are made at school level. The Department issues advisory guidance to schools to help them formulate their policies, which can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.The guidance emphasises that schools should give the highest priority to cost considerations when setting school uniform policies. Exclusive single supplier contracts should be avoided unless regular tendering competitions are run where suppliers can compete for the contract and best value for parents is secured.The Department has not made a recent formal assessment of the effectiveness of competitive tendering policies for reducing the costs of school uniform. In 2012, the Office of Fair Trading (now the Competition and Markets Authority) published a report finding parents who could shop around for school uniform could save between £5-10 on items of uniform. The Department’s own research in 2015 also found that most items of uniform tended to be substantially cheaper when they could be purchased anywhere.The research by the Office of Fair Trading is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402181611/http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/othermarketswork/school-uniforms.The Department’s Cost of Uniform Survey is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniform-2015.

Flags and Heraldry: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that pupils learn about (a) local flags and heraldry and (b) the importance of (i) national, (ii) county and (iii) town symbols.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that children at school learn local history in relation to their (a) county, (b) town and (c) village.

Nick Gibb: The reformed curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to be taught local history. The history programmes of study enable pupils to know and understand the history of Britain from its first settlers to the development of the institutions that help to define our national life today. Although there is no specified requirement to teach about flags, heraldry or symbols, teachers have freedom to include aspects of historical interest relating to their local communities. History is a foundation subject of the national curriculum and is statutory in local authority maintained schools at Key Stages 1 to 3 (up to age 14). Academies and free schools can choose to use the national curriculum as a benchmark.In addition, Historic England’s Heritage Schools programme has been funded by the Department for Education since 2012. It supports schools across England, helping children to understand their local historic environment and its significance and to be proud of where they live, as well as providing training for teachers. The Government is investing £817,520 each year from 2016-20 for this programme.

Teachers: Bureaucracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce teachers' (a) paperwork and (b) administrative tasks.

Nick Gibb: Our priority is to make sure that teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession. Reducing workload is key to that objective. The Government is committed to working with the teaching profession to strip away workload that does not add value or give teachers the time and space to focus on teaching. The Government has announced a period of stability for assessment, qualifications and the curriculum and plans to move to a simpler accountability system.Following the 2014 Workload Challenge, the Department established three independent review groups to address the three main causes of unnecessary workload: marking, planning and resources, and data management. Their reports set out principles to address these issues. The Department has accepted and is acting on all the recommendations and is working with Ofsted and others to embed the principles of the reports in schools. There is still more to do to tackle the complex drivers of excessive workload. The Department has established a new workload advisory group to assess levels of unnecessary data collection.

Pupil Exclusions: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in primary schools in Havering have been excluded in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children at secondary schools in Havering have been excluded in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Nick Gibb: The National Statistics release ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England 2015 to 2016’ includes numbers and rates of exclusions. The full release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2015-to-2016.The local authority (LA) tables include exclusion information for Havering, London and England and the underlying data files include exclusion information at national, regional and LA level from the 2006/07 academic year onwards.

Colonialism: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that a balanced approach is taken to the teaching of British colonial history.

Nick Gibb: History is a foundation subject of the national curriculum and is statutory in local authority maintained schools at Key Stages 1 to 3. Academies and free schools can choose to use the national curriculum as a benchmark. The history curriculum sets out, within a clear chronological framework, the core knowledge that enables pupils to know and understand the history of Britain from its first settlers to the development of the institutions that help to define our national life today, as well as aspects of European and wider world history. This includes British colonial history. Examples of areas which pupils should be taught about include the development of the British Empire and the end of empire. Schools are under a duty to ensure that where political issues are brought to the attention of pupils, they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views.

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his policies to improve the retention rates of teachers.

Nick Gibb: There are more teachers in our schools than ever before and the number of teachers joining the profession continues to outnumber those who retire or leave. There are 457,300 teachers in state-funded schools in England – up 15,500 since 2010. More than 14,000 former teachers returned to teaching in the last year for which we have data, with the number of returning teachers having risen by 8% since 2011. The Department is committed to addressing the issues that make teachers consider leaving the profession. At the Association of School and College Leaders conference in March the development of a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers was announced. The strategy will build on the existing work to support schools, including the introduction of a period of stability to allow recent changes a chance to settle in, clarifying accountability in the system, and reducing unnecessary workload.

Teachers: Veterans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his policy to encourage more former military personnel into the teaching profession.

Nick Gibb: The Department announced a new ‘Troops to Teachers’ bursary of £40,000 in March 2018 which will be available from September 2018. This builds on the success of the former ‘Troops to Teachers’ programme which has helped 106 people become qualified teachers so far. Feedback from placement schools on the original ‘Troops to Teachers’ programme in England indicates that graduates are highly regarded, capable teachers who will make a valuable contribution to the profession. The Department will assess the effectiveness of the new bursary once evidence has been received from the uptake in the autumn 2018.

Children: Rotherham

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) all children and (b) children eligible for free school meals reached a good level of development at the age of five in Rotherham constituency in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data is in the attached table.



children_achieving_good_level_of_development_in_EY
(Word Document, 31.59 KB)

Further Education: Closures

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many further education colleges have closed in each constituency since 2010.

Anne Milton: There have been 10 sixth form colleges and 56 further education colleges, which have closed since 1 January 2010.Although usually one college closes in order to merge with another college, the majority of newly merged colleges have retained the original college’s estate. This means that although an institution may no longer exist independently, its closure does not equate to a loss of provision for learners in the area.Each college closure has been in a different constituency. The full list can be found in Annex A. 



Sixth_form_and_further_education_college_closures
(Word Document, 73.5 KB)

Treasury

Air Passenger Duty

Luke Pollard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been raised for the public in each of the last five years from Air Passenger Duty by (a) reduced rate, (b) standard rate and (c) higher rate in (i) band A and (ii) band B.

Mel Stride: This information is not available. Total receipts from Air Passenger Duty are published at the following link and this also includes passenger numbers declared by traders at the various bands and rates:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Planning Permission

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Draft revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 5 March 2018, for what reason he proposes to amend the duty on local planning authorities to make decisions that are in line with the objectives and provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008 to decisions that are within the context provided by that Act; and if he will make it his policy to restore the direct link between the objectives and provisions of that Act and local planning in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Dominic Raab: The draft revision of the National Planning Policy Framework did not propose to change the duties falling on local planning authorities under the Climate Change Act 2008. The consultation closed on 10 May and we are currently analysing responses. We will consider all comments, including those on wording proposed, ahead of publication of the final Framework in the Summer.

Building Regulations: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library (a) a list of the organisations that (i) he, (ii) Ministers and (iii) officials of his Department  have met with in the course of considering proposals for consultation on the Building Regulations fire safety guidance and (b) a copy of the minutes of those meetings.

James Brokenshire: My Department regularly meets with a wide range of stakeholders in relation to building regulations policy. In respect of our recent work on clarifying the guidance in Approved Document B and our consultation on assessments in lieu of testing (desk top studies) a building regulations advisory committee working group has been convened to assist the Department and their advice is used to develop detailed proposals.The membership of this group is made up of existing members of the committee plus seconded experts. The seconded experts are invited as individuals, not representatives and it is not normal practice to publish their names. However, the permanent members of BRAC are listed on the at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/organisations/building-regulations-advisory-committee/about/membership

Building Regulations: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 17 May 2018 on Building Regulations and Fire Safety, Official Report, column 457, and with reference to his Department's consultation on Amendments to statutory guidance on assessments in lieu of test in Approved Document B (Fire Safety), published by his Department on 11 April 2018, for what reason his Department's consultation on cladding systems does not include the option of banning the use of desktop studies to assess cladding systems.

James Brokenshire: Our consultation paper, 'Amendments to statutory guidance on assessments in lieu of test in Approved Document B (Fire Safety)' set out proposed amendments to building regulations guidance in line with the recommendation in Dame Judith’s Hackitt's interim report. The consultation paper also asked for views on whether the Government should go further and prohibit the use of assessments in lieu of tests either for all fire test classifications or for fire test classifications relating to the BS 8414 full-scale cladding test. The consultation closed on 25 May.

Second Homes: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the eligibility of second homes for small business rate relief; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Second homes are ordinarily domestic properties and are therefore liable for council tax, rather than non-domestic rates. Where a home is made available for letting commercially for short periods totalling 140 days or more per year, the Valuation Office Agency may value it for non-domestic rates. Small business rate relief is available for any business property that meets the criteria for the relief.

High Rise Flats: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in light of the changes announced by the London Fire Brigade to the stay put policy for evacuation in the event of a high-rise fire, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the guidance entitled Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats which his Department worked with the Local Government Association to produce.

James Brokenshire: Across London, the advice of London Fire Brigade on stay put remains the same. However, for specific buildings where it has been identified that they have Aluminium Composite Material cladding, one of the interim control measures is to move to a simultaneous evacuation strategy and the stay put policy has been temporarily suspended in these cases. In London there are approximately 100 buildings where this arrangement has been put in place. At such time that the Aluminium Composite Material cladding has been removed it is London Fire Brigade’s expectation that these buildings will move back to a stay put strategy. There are 16 blocks in London so far that have removed their cladding and returned to stay put. This has been the London Fire Brigade position since the Government published the interim measures and London Fire Brigade then carried out inspections to check that Responsible Persons had taken all reasonable steps to mitigate risk from fire to residents. This is in accordance with The National Fire Chiefs Council’s guidance on simultaneous evacuation, which supports the principle of a stay put strategy whenever possible. This guidance is available on the National Fire Chiefs Council’s website: https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance The principles of stay put advice is laid out in the ‘Fire safety in Purpose-Built Block of Flats’ guidance hosted on the Local Government Association’s website and developed by a wide range of stakeholders. London Fire Brigade and the National Fire Chiefs Council support this guidance.

High Rise Flats: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the National Fire Chiefs Council on the adequacy of stay put advice for high-rise residents in the event of a fire.

James Brokenshire: Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Government worked with fire safety experts, including the National Fire Chiefs Council, to issue advice to owners of high rise residential blocks of flats with unsafe cladding on the immediate steps they should take to mitigate the risks of fire, and maintain the safety of their buildings for residential use, pending full remediation work.To support that advice, the National Fire Chiefs Council issued more detailed guidance to fire and rescue services and building owners on the arrangements that should be in place where a ‘stay put’ policy has been suspended. That guidance was issued in October 2017. The National Fire Chiefs Council published an updated version of the guidance in May which did not alter the existing position on the maintenance or suspension of ‘stay put’ policy.

High Rise Flats: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has in place to ensure that all residents are aware of whether they should stay put or evacuate their flats in the event of a high-rise fire.

James Brokenshire: 'Stay put’ is an operational policy overseen by fire and rescue services. The National Fire Chiefs Council has issued a statement on this, which can be found at:https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/News/national-fire-chiefs-council-reiterate-stay-put-advice/200686Existing advice on the policy and guidance about its suspension in certain circumstances is annexed to this letter and can be found on the National Fire Chiefs Council website at:https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidanceIn the case of a comprehensive fire risk assessment undertaken by a competent fire risk assessor deciding on the maintenance or suspension of a ‘stay put’ policy, residents and the local fire and rescue service should be informed.

Minerals: Mining

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the environmental effect of mineral extraction (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.

Dominic Raab: The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government’s planning policies which provide the framework to minimise the environmental effect of mineral extraction. The Department is only responsible for providing the planning framework for mineral extraction in England.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contractors his Department employs who have worked for his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) over one and up to five years, (c) over five years and up to ten years and (d) over 10 years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Fire and Rescue Service

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans have been made under the Defence Fire and Rescue Project to ensure the Defence Fire and Rescue Service has the ability to deploy internationally.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: No decision has been reached on the Defence Fire and Rescue Project but the ability to provide internationally deployable fire and rescue services will be part of any outcome from the project.

Nuclear Weapons: Decommissioning

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department disposes of material from decommissioned nuclear warheads.

Guto Bebb: The Atomic Weapons Establishment stores and re-uses fissile material removed from dismantled nuclear warheads which have been withdrawn from operational service as part of routine stockpile management. Fissile material waste which is generated from this process is safely and securely stored in preparation for future long-term storage and disposal.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment: Autism

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people with autism in relation to personal independence payment assessments.

Sarah Newton: When we identify a claimant requires additional support we have a process to ensure that this is provided. We recognise that attending any face-to-face assessment can be a stressful experience for some people, which is why we do not carry out face-to-face consultations where there is enough existing evidence to determine benefit entitlement. If a face-to-face consultation is required, we encourage claimants to take a companion, for example a carer, friend, or family member, to their consultation for support. It is recognised that information given by a companion can be useful, particularly in cases where the claimant may lack insight into their condition, understate the challenges they face or have difficulty communicating. Where a claimant does not return their PIP claim form, we will still ask our Assessment Providers to make contact and gather evidence and / or invite the claimant for an assessment.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many contractors have been employed by her Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Kit Malthouse: Details of the duration of contractor engagements are published in DWP’s Annual Accounts as part of the Remuneration and Staff Report. The latest Annual Report (2016-17) is published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017 The 2017-18 report is being finalised and approved. This should be published in July.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2018 to Question 141381, what the longest time taken by the Independent Case Examiners Office has been (a) to allocate a case manager and (b) for a case manager to complete an investigation.

Kit Malthouse: We have interpreted this as a question concerning complaints from women affected by changes to state pension age. To date, the longest time taken by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office to: (a) allocate a complaint from this group for investigation was 58.57 weeks; and (b) complete an investigation of this type was 24.77 weeks. ICE aim to reslove complaints within 20 weeks of starting an investigation. The time it takes to allocate and complete an investigation has been impacted by the WASPI campaign which actively encourages women to make a complaint and which has more than doubled their caseloads.

Employment and Support Allowance

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 132729, how the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners were engaged with on the wording of the ESA65B letters by officials of her Department; and if she will place copies of related written responses in the Library of the House.

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any external bodies apart from the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners were engaged by her Department to determine whether the adequacy of the revised wording of the ESA65B letter to welfare claimants’ GPs.

Sarah Newton: Officials from this Department engaged with the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners on the development of the revised ESA65B letter via regular meetings that DWP holds with both organisations, during which their agreement on the final wording was obtained. No other external stakeholders were consulted on the development of the revised ESA65B letter.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings he has had with scientists on bovine TB.

George Eustice: On 15 January, the Secretary of State met a number of scientists, veterinarians, and other experts to discuss ways to accelerate the eradication of bovine TB.The Review of our 25-Year TB Strategy, announced in February 2018, will bring together several leading TB scientists to explore how to take the Strategy to the next phase.

Agriculture: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage young people to work in agriculture.

George Eustice: Having a skilled workforce in place and attracting young talent to agricultural careers is vital for the future of UK food and farming. There is a wide breadth of exciting technical and highly skilled careers in agriculture from primary production to research, engineering, agronomy, animal welfare and plant health. The Government is reforming post-16 technical education to provide clear routes to skilled employment in agriculture and other sectors. The changes we have made to the apprenticeship system are transforming lives. We are helping employers to create high quality apprenticeships at all levels that give people of all ages and backgrounds the skills they need. Employers are designing new high quality standards to ensure apprenticeships are more responsive to their needs. Apprenticeship standards are available in a broad range of sectors including agriculture, with Land Based Service Engineer and Arborist approved for delivery, with more in development. In addition, we currently provide extra support for young farmers starting out in farming through the EU Basic Payment Scheme. Eligible farmers aged between 18 and 40 can claim a 25% uplift on up to 90 hectares of their Basic Payment Scheme payments for the first five years of their new business. Defra also provides grant funding support to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs to provide mentoring, training and development opportunities for young people across England who are interested in food and farming.

Beaches: Standards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to increase the number of Blue Flag beaches in the UK.

David Rutley: Blue Flag is an international award of the Foundation for Environmental Education for beaches and marinas which meet a range of criteria. Blue Flag is independent of Government and in England is administered by Keep Britain Tidy. There are four criteria for a Blue Flag:Water quality - beaches must be classified as Excellent under the Bathing Water DirectiveEnvironmental education and informationEnvironmental managementSafety and services The Government has made clear that we will keep working to improve our environment and make sure it is protected for future generations. The 25 Year Environmental Plan sets out our commitment to continue to improve the cleanliness of our waters.

Incinerators

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2018 to Question 142751, on incinerators, what other sizes of particulates the term other particulates refers to.

David Rutley: The Environment Agency requires operators to continuously monitor atmospheric emissions of total particulate matter. In practice, the vast majority of particulate matter emitted by incinerators is likely to be PM10 or less, which includes PM2.5, PM1.0 and PM0.1.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to contribute to the UK's Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals to be presented in 2019 at the High Level Political Forum of the United Nations.

George Eustice: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for International Development PQ 146233.

Agriculture

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the environmental effect of farming (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.

George Eustice: We set out in Chapter 1 of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan how we will reduce the impact of farming on the natural environment. We will design and deliver a new environmental land management system that puts the environment first, which will incentivise and reward land managers to restore and improve our natural capital and rural heritage. We will enforce regulations for new farming rules for water, requiring every farmer to identify and manage risks to water on their land and start taking precautions to reduce ammonia emissions. We will work with farmers to use fertilisers efficiently, in order to cut the air and water pollution that harms the environment, and we will protect crops while reducing the environmental impact of pesticides. As the 25 Year Environment Plan makes clear, it is vital that we leave a lighter footprint on the global environment, so we will work with business to develop ideas for enhancing sustainability. In terms of addressing the environmental impact of farming abroad, through International Climate Finance (ICF), Defra has committed £210million to support forestry projects and forest dependent communities to develop low carbon and sustainable agriculture practices. In the Amazon and Atlantic Forests of Brazil, Defra’s ICF supports small and medium sized farms to implement low-carbon agriculture while protecting forests and biodiversity. Defra also supports the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) which promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions through smarter land-use policies and practices such as sustainable agriculture. Through our support to the eco.business Fund in Latin America we promote business and consumption practices that contribute not only to biodiversity conservation but also to the sustainable use of natural resources, to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.

Home Office

Security Guards: Licensing

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Security Industry Authority licence renewals are issued on time.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is an Executive Non-Departmental Body (NDPB) of the Home Office. The SIA is operationally independent.The Home Office receives regular performance updates from the SIA, including information around the processing of licence applications.

Home Office: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Mr Ben Wallace: As at the 31st March 2018 the Home Department and it’s Agencies and NDPBs had engaged the following number of contingent labour contractors for;(a) up to one year, - 125(b) between one and five years, - 185, six contractors have a tenure of greater than three years, no contractors have a tenure of greater than four years.(c) between five and 10 years - Noneand (d) over 10 years – None

Knives: Crime

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the reasons for the rise in knife crime over the last 12 months.

Mr Ben Wallace: On 9 April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy to set out the action it is taking to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. The Strategy is taking a multi-strand approach. Law enforcement is very important, but it also depends on partnerships across a number of sectors, such as education, health, social services, housing, youth services, victim services and others.We have reviewed the evidence and the strategy sets out the trends and drivers of serious violence. The evidence shows that while overall crime continues to fall, homicide, knife crime and gun crime have increased since 2014 across virtually all police force areas in England and Wales. Robbery has also risen sharply since 2016. The increases have been accompanied by a shift towards younger victims and perpetrators. About half the rise in knife/gun crime and robbery is probably due to improvements in police recording. However, for the remainder, drug-related cases seem to be an important driver. Between 2014/15 and 2016/17, homicides where either the victim or suspect were known to be involved in using or dealing illicit drugs increased from 50% to 57%The analysis in the Serious Violence Strategy shows that changes in the drugs market is a major factor in the recent increases as: Crack-cocaine markets have strong links to serious violence and evidence suggests crack use is rising in England and Wales; County lines drugs dealing is also associated with violence and exploitation and its spread is also a key factor; It is also thought that drugs-market violence may be facilitated and spread by social media, which is used to glamorise gang or drug-selling life, taunt rivals and normalise weapons carrying; and there is an increase in the number of individuals who are most vulnerable.Our analysis also looks at the evidence of the key risk factors which may mean a young person may have a greater propensity to get involved in crime than would otherwise be the case. It also sets out the evidence supporting the importance of early intervention with young people and encouraging positive activities to engage them in and build links with their community.

Knives: Crime

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to tackle the rise in knife crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: On 9 April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy that set out action being taken to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. This includes the national knife crime media campaign, #knifefree, to raise awareness of the consequences of knife crime among young people and to encourage them to take up positive activities.We will continue to encourage police forces in England and Wales to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. In February this year, all 44 forces participated in Operation Sceptre, which includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from identified retailers, the use of surrender bins and educational activities. On 18 May we also announced up to £1million for a new round of the anti-knife crime Community Fund which will invited bids for funding from community groups to tackle knife crime in their area.

Drugs: Crime

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of progress in tackling the production and distribution of illegal psychoactive substances.

Mr Ben Wallace: Section 58 of the Act commits the Secretary of State to review the operation of the Act, prepare a report of the review, and lay a copy of the report before Parliament 30 months after the commencement of the Act. The 30 month review of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 will be published in November 2018.Early evidence since the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (2016 PSA) came into effect shows that it is working. It has removed psychoactive substances from open sale.Since the Act came into force, over 300 retailers across the United Kingdom have either closed down or are no longer selling psychoactive substances, police have arrested suppliers and action by the National Crime Agency has resulted in the removal of these drugs for sale on UK based websites.

Immigrants: English Language

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of requiring people accused by ETS of cheating in Test of English for International Communication assessments to take another English language test.

Caroline Nokes: No action was taken against anybody with a questionable certificate for that reason without first giving them an opportunity to re-sit their test. For those with an invalid certificate, the Court have consistently found that our standard evidence is sufficient to satisfy the presumption of fraud.

Home Office: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contractors currently employed by his Department are paid £1,000 or more per day.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Department has one contractor currently engaged on a day rate that exceeds £1,000 per day. The contractor is engaged on a part time basis for six days per month providing specialist advice to the Department.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants will be engaged in the function of handling applications by EU citizens for temporary or settled status in the UK in the period between that application process opening and the end of the implementation period for the UK leaving the EU.

Caroline Nokes: We are fully committed to ensuring that our operational teams have the re-sources they need to run an efficient and effective migration system. To this end, recruitment is underway to bring existing UKVI European Casework staffing levels to circa 1,500 ahead of the EU Exit Settlement Scheme launch at the end of this year.Operational units across the Home Office actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand. Any resultant changes to resource requirements will be factored into strategic planning.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to establish a public information campaign to encourage non-UK EU citizens to take part in the registration process for when the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: We have launched a targeted communications campaign to maximise awareness and reassure EU citizens of our commitment to protect their rights and entitlements. Activity will increase as we approach the launch of the scheme before the end of this year.

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many leave to remain (family and private life) applications are currently pending.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the In-Country leave to remain work in progress is available in our published transparency data at the link below. See tab InC_03.Family and private life applications are included in the HR/Complex category but this also includes outside of the rules applications.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2018

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average duration is for processing a leave to remain (family and private life category) application.

Caroline Nokes: Information on processing times for In-Country leave to remain applications is available in our published transparency data at the link below. See tab InC_05.Family and private life applications are included in the Non-Straightforward Workable category but this also includes outside of the rules applications.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2018

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average duration of processing leave to remain (family and private life category) applications has been in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Information on processing times for In-Country leave to remain applications is available in our published transparency data at the link below. See tab InC_05.Family and private life applications are included in the Non-Straightforward Workable category but this also includes outside of the rules applications.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2018

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department applies service standards for processing leave to remain (family and private life) applications.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not currently have a published service standard for family and private life applications but endeavours to determine what are often complex applications as soon as possible.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that dependent children are included on the register of death of a parent.

Caroline Nokes: The information to be provided for a death registration is prescribed in regulations made under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. There are no plans to amend legislation to include the names of any dependent children of the deceased.

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations his Department has received from hon. Members and civil society organisations on implementing service standards for leave to remain (family and private life) applications.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office receives regular contact from MPs representing their constituents, including queries about their constituents’ family and human rights applications.

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the guidelines for staff processing leave to remain (family and private life) applications on updating applicants of the status of that application are.

Caroline Nokes: An acknowledgement letter is despatched to the applicant when their family and private life application is input onto our caseworking system. This letter advises that no service standard applies but that the application will be completed as soon as possible.After the initial acknowledgement, caseworkers will contact individuals where further information or evidence is required to consider and progress their application, but do not provide running updates on the status of applications in progress.

Immigration: Applications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds can people applying for leave to remain (family and private life) expedite that request.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to review the grounds for people applying for leave to remain (family and private life) to be able to expedite that request.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received representations from (a) hon. Members and (b) civil society organisations on reviewing the grounds on which people applying for leave to remain (family and private life) can expedite their request.

Caroline Nokes: We will consider requests to expedite family and private life applications in the most serious circumstances, such as serious family illness or bereavement abroad or other exceptionally compassionate circumstances, if such requests are supported by documentary evidence.The criteria against which we will expedite is under constant review.The Home Office receives requests from MPs and their offices for the expediting of their constituents’ family and human rights applications. Such requests are considered as a priority. I am not aware of any correspondence the Home Office has had recently with civil society organisations about our expedite criteria.

Church Commissioners

Out-of-school Education

Bob Blackman: To ask the Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, could she update the House on the view of the Church of England’s Education Office following the publication of the Government’s response to the Out-of-school education consultation.

Dame Caroline Spelman: Following the publication of the findings from the Department for Education’s consultation on out-of-school education, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, the Revd Nigel Genders, said: “We welcome the Government’s response to the consultation and the proposals to focus resources and energy on the areas of most concern rather than creating unhelpful bureaucracy.” The Church of England will go on working with Government on any proposal that would achieve this outcome.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Suella Braverman: The Department for Exiting the European Union employed 37 contractors from April 2017 to April 2018. This is the latest date at which we have information for. This number includes agency staff and external expertise that were brought in to lead on discrete projects which would not ordinarily be performed by members of staff. Information about the number of contractors between one and five years can only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department was formed in July 2016, contractors employed between five and 10 years and over 10 years are therefore not applicable to DExEU. This information is available on our website within the Department’s monthly publication of workforce management information. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-exiting-the-european-union-monthly-workforce-management-information-for-2017-and-2018

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the (a) value and (b) volume of timber (i) imports from and (ii) exports to the Irish Republic was in each of the last five years.

Graham Stuart: Estimates of the value (£) and net mass (Metric Tons) of UK imports and exports of ‘wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal’ from and to the Irish Republic for the past five years from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are in the table below. YearExportsImportsValue (£millions)Net mass (Metric Tons)Value (£millions)Net mass (Metric Tons)2013129.3369,205208.0773,7232014153.0377,616238.6866,8302015148.7420,784217.2818,6762016173.1481,425219.6853,3192017192.4500,615259.2894,660Source: HMRC UKTradeInfo – ‘Build your own data tables’

Origin Marking

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to retain membership of Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin after the UK leaves the EU.

Graham Stuart: The Government is undertaking a wide range of analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations.The analysis considers the merits of existing trade structures such as the Pan Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin. However, this work is ongoing and the Government has not yet determined what its final approach will be.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Air Passenger Duty

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,what assessment his Department has made on the effect of Air Passenger Duty on tourism in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ 141355 on 18th May.